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Tuesday, 1 May 2012

Artefact 4 Evaluation

I came up with a new story that I knew I could use my
knowledge of composition to enhance.

The story is of a stolen trophy, and two school boys accused
of the theft by a teacher. Each child makes his case and the teacher decides
which to believe, that turns out to be the wrong kid.

I am aware now that I can't use composition to change a
narrative. It's a supporting tool. With this in mind I created a single version
of this story where the composition supports the narrative.

From artefact 2 and 3 I learnt that moving the camera up and
down does have an effect on how a character is portrayed, but it should be used
subtly. Thus I avoided extreme highs and lows and instead used the camera to
represent either the children or the teacher - this would enhance the sense
that the kids are underlings of the teacher, and that the teacher is in charge.

It's important that if the camera represents a character's
viewpoint that it's positioned to represent their height.

The final shot of the artefact, 008, works especially well
because without the character in the foreground it would only seem that the
other kid is further arguing with the teacher. The inclusion of that extra
character lets the viewer know that what's being argued is related to the
character in the foreground. It's his expressions that suggest that he's
managed to pass the blame onto the other kid. Including the characters in the
background makes the viewer know it's that that he's looking smug about.

Responses show that you do get a real sense of the story
thanks to the composition. The inclusion of the three emotions in the final
shot is one thing that was picked up on as being effective.

Perhaps a second version would've really made it obvious
what I was doing.